OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

People must be careful  of their spine all the time, whether they are sleeping, sitting, walking, travelling or working. Specially at the work place negligence can put forth a number of occupational health hazards therefore, it becomes imperative for all employees to understand the hazards and take appropriate action to prevent any permanent health damage.

Stressors responsible for Occupational health hazards 

Environmental stressors 
Stress in the working environment is caused by extremes of temperature, inadequate lighting and ventilation, presence of dust, fumes, and gases, noise and vibration and poor amenity provision.

Occupational stressors 
For most jobs, a 15 minutes rest break after about 2 hours of work is standard .The purpose of the break, is to overcome fatigue. For physically demanding jobs, the 15 minutes break is probably well used in resting. Sedentary workers, however require some physical activity to relieve musculo-skeletal stress that has accumulated from being in a rigid posture for most of the previous two hours. Stressful conditions at work can lead to accidents or health deterioration. Typical conditions include:

• Long standing hours
• Long sitting hours
• Long working hours- 60 or more hours in a week.
• Lifting of heavy load 
• Pushing of heavy trolleys 
• Working on floor level 
• Repetitive job tasks
• Putting and removing materials from higher shelves. 
• Stacking of heavy materials.

Social stressors
Social stresses associated with family life, marital relationships, and job demands. In the hospitality industry, due to long and odd working hours, family life is disrupted. These situations can result in worry and anxiety and no two people cope or adapt in the same way.

it is the responsibility of the management to ensure that safe working conditions exist for all personnel Ergonomically designed furniture and equipment would help in removing environmental stressors. Workers should feel free to report stressful work environment to the management so that adequate measures can be taken.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
In occupation related hazards a peculiar but often debilitating disorder of unknown cause, characterized by fatigue, pain and .cognitive disorders appears very subtly. It causes great inconvenience to person and management, resulting in poor mental and physical performance on duty.

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standing hours
Hotel Jobs generally require excessive standing and walking during a day's work. To reduce stress : Have weight evenly on both legs. Place one foot on a low stool alternatively while standing Sensible shoes-High Heeled shoes and shoes pointed from the front, worn for long hours can produce great physical stress such as footaches and backaches. People should stand straight and try to look tall, with ears, shoulders and hips in one line.

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Long sitting hours
Musculoskeletal complaints from a seated worker maybe related to chair characteristics But discomfort maybe attributed to chair variables that instead is due to other factors such as lack of wrist rests ( to reduce weight off the shoulders ) visual discomfort (radiating down the neck to the back) and lack of exercise

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Choosing the right chair

• Pick a chair which fits your size.
• Have a firm chair preferably with no wheels on it
• The seat pan should comfortably support the thighs .
• The chair back should support some of the weight of the torso, arms and head, reducing the   pressure on the lower spine.
• Do not let your feet hang. Make use of a footrest for better posture.

Entering text or data with a computer keyboard for extended periods of time, even though each key stroke requires only a few ounces of pressure, can result in cumulative repetitive motion trauma when the job involves 60,000-70,000 key strokes in a day. To prevent injury, after sitting and working for about half an hour take a break of about 10-15 seconds, to stretch particular body areas that are tense- for e.g., by doing a head roll, aim and leg stretch and shoulder rolls, deep breathing can also reduce tension and rejuvenate the brain.

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Lifting of heavy load
Generally the job should be designed so that the lifting load is avoided. When lifting does become   necessary, the load handled, should be:

• Light
• Close to the body
• Lifted at the general height of the hips
• Grasp by both the hands.
• Handle in front of the body.

Load should be preferably be moved

• Only a short vertical distance
• To a position close to and in front of the body.
• To a position hip-high ( no bending or stooping )
• Infrequently ( less than once in a minute )

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If the following points are followed then, the back is not likely to be injured. Clearly, when one experiences lower back pain from lifting a 2 kg. load from the floor when this is the 501st 2 kg. load lifted that day, it maybe the preceding 1000 kg. of weight lifted ( 2 kgs. at a time ).

Low backache builds up relatively slowly during the cumulative handling of relatively small loads. In fact, the first time the worker notices lower back pain, it maybe occurring relatively infrequently and would probably not be reported as an injury. Eventually, however, the cumulative effects of lifting even light loads would result in a continuously increasing experience of low back ache eventually resulting in trauma. May also cause severe damages like disc prolapsed, fracture vertebrae and arthritis

 Generally, stooped lifting posture requires less effort and , although it may be a greater source of lower back injury, it unfortunately tends to be preferred more often by manual material handlers.

	Pushing and pulling of heavy trolleys Pulling loads is much more strenuous on the lower back, from the same force, than pushing loads. Therefore, try and push the and push the loaded trolley as much as possible
	Pushing Tuck the chin in Keep the back and arms straight. The front foot should balance the body.  The rear foot, pointing forward, gives the thrus
	Pulling Tuck the chin in Keep the back and arms straight. The back foot safeguards balance. The front leg, with knee bent to allow the body to move back, does the thrusting.

Working on floor level

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• Do not lean over your work
• Keep your back straight

	Putting and removing materials from higher shelves Avoid stretching to Iift ,twisting while lilting and lifting in constricted spaces Make use of a stool to reach objects placed at higher shelves.
	Stacking of heavy materials When stacking to high levels, make the legs do the work. Relax both knees when approaching the stack Thrust upwards with a swinging movement one foot following through

Suggested Exercises for Reducing Occupation Health Hazards
Exercising in the Office
The most common reason for lack of exercises is "lack of time". There is some evidence that the long accented recommendation of 20-30 minutes of reasonable intense activities, 3 times a week could be substituted with short bursts of activity. 5 minutes exercise sessions, achieved regularly through out the day, cumulate to have the same effect. The regular use of stairs in place of lift, specially if the stairs are climbed continuously at a good pace, will soon show an improvement of aerobic capacity. Simple exercise at work or in the office will help an individual relax and cope better with stress.

Even finding small ways to improve physical conditions can help to :

• avoid slouching, stand and sit erect with shoulders he'd back, but relaxed
• stretch the whole body and breath deeply every hour
• enjoy brisk walk at lunch time
• smile, it is a good exercise for me face arid will set a pleasant tone for greetings and
  meetings

For typists or those who write a lot, alternately clench the fist and stretch out all the fingers. As a separate exercise, gently pull the fingers back. Relax the hands and arms, by shaking them loosely at the side of the body.
The following exercises can be under taken in the office :

	PEDALING ON THE SPOT {stimulates circulation, tones carves and thighs) : Keep the legs moving continuously in a pedaling motion by roiling the feet up high on the toes. Relax the arms and swing them in the opposite direction to the feet.
	HEAD SEMI CIRCLES ( To release tension in the neck and upper back muscles) : Let the head tall gently forward and to the right side in a smooth motion then focus the eyes. Continue by relaxing the head down and across to the other side. Keep the chin in contact with your upper chest.
	SIDE LEANS (Increase flexibility and helps the waist and upper trunk) : While standing, lean as far as comfortable to each side, reached down the leg with the hand.
	TRUNK TWIST (To improve hip flexibility): With the arms relaxed and the feet apart, slowly twist around each side and back, following the leading hand with the eyes Avoid violent twisting.
	DESK PUSH-UPS (Tone arms and improve upper body strength) :  From the front rest position, bend the arms, lowering the body to the desk and then back up. Keep the body straight and make sure that the desk will not move.
	STRETCH ARM TO LEG (Improve flexibility in legs and lower back) : Sitting, extend one leg and slowly reach forward with the opposite arm, trying to touch the toes. Repeat to the other side.
	SHOULDER EXERCISES (Reduces muscle tension in neck and shoulders) : Alternately shrug each shoulder as high possible and then relax it. Lift both shoulder and roll them backwards. This exercise can he performed either sitting and standing.
	KNEE TO NOSE (For lower back and abdominal :it promotes relaxation): Seated, pull one knee up towards the chest, then try to reach the knee with the head. Movement should be slow and smooth.
	SHOULDER STRETCH (Relaxes shoulders) : Reach back over the right shoulder with the right hand while banding the left arm up the back. Try to touch hands. Relax by dropping the arms to the sides. Alternate arms.
	DEEP BREATHING (General relaxation) : Sit in a chair with the aims relaxed Inhale slowly as you 'Sit tall', tightening your muscles and pulling the shoulders back. Exhale completely as you slump forward relaxing the whole body.

Remember:

• these exercises can be performed regularly throughout the day
• start slowly with a few repetitions
• build up the number over time
• never strain
• avoid any that aggravate an injury you might already have
• if any exercises causes back pain, stop and seek further advice

Exercise for toning and strengthening back,abdominal and leg muscles

Spinal extension exercise

1. lie down on your belly (abdomen)
2. lift alternate legs straight, hold for five seconds
3. lift upper trunk
4. lift both upper trunk & both legs

Hamstring stretching exercises to relieve spasm and pain

1. sit the way shown
2. bend your body forward without lifting the knee to keep the leg straight
3. remain in that position for few seconds
4. repeat with alternate legs

Hamstring stretching exercise (2nd option)

put legs alternatively either on a chair or on a block and try to bring the ankle upwards. Hold for a few seconds, Repeat

Back and abdominal Exercises

1. lie on you back with hip and knees bent
2. with the back touching the bed, lift hip and knees and try doing cycling in the air
3. do not overstretch yourself to painful range

4. Hug your knees to your chest
5. Hold for a count of 5
6. Release and repeat.

7. Lie with both the legs spread apart with hip and knee bent to 90 degree
8. Lift the pelvis to almost 18 inches so that the face pelvis and knees come in alignment
9. Hold for Few seconds
10. repeat